Sacrifice
by William Logan
Summary: WARNING: TDH SPOILERS First year Teddy Lupin reflects upon those who sacrificed themselves eleven years ago during the Battle of Hogwarts. Shortfic, please R


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters... but we all knew that already.

**Sacrifice**

**By William Logan**

A group of first years rushed past the sullen-looking young boy as he stared up at the plaque on the wall, some loud chatter going on amongst them about Peeves having clogged up a toilet on the second floor with a bag full of gobstones. Eleven year old Teddy Lupin paid them no mind, reaching up to touch the plaque with a trembling hand, his young, bright eyes filled with tears. His normally brightly-coloured hair dulled to a mousy brown, falling messily about on his head. The words on it filled him with pride, but a great sadness, as well.

**In Memoriam of Those Who Perished in the Battle of Hogwarts**

The list of names was a few dozen long, but the only two that held Teddy's attention were Remus and Nymphadora Lupin of the Order of the Phoenix. He had never had time to know them, though his grandmother constantly informed him of how brave his mother and father were, and how much like them he looked. Easy to say, he supposed, as he could change his appearance at will.

"Yeh all right there, Teddy?" A booming voice came from behind him.

"Yeah," he muttered, wiping his eyes with his robe sleeves, "I... I just wanted to see it..." he watched as an ethereal image of his parents appeared at the top of plaque, soon replaced by a similar image of a young red-haired man with a devil's smirk crossing his lips.

"Yer mum an' dad were one in a million, Teddy," the half-giant behind him said, resting a large hand on the first year's shoulder, "not many could say they were braver. Yer dad would be proud t'know yeh made it t'bein' a Gryffindor."

"I wish I'd have gotten a chance to know them," Teddy sighed, turning around to look at Hagrid, whose beetle eyes were filling up with tears, "had a normal life like the other kids..."

"Not everyone gets tha' chance, Teddy," Hagrid let out a loud sniffle, pulling out a dirty handkerchief the size of a small tablecloth and noisily blowing his nose, attracting both giggles and looks of disgust from a gaggle of fourth year Slytherin girls. "I once knew another young wizard who used t'look at the other kids an' their normal families an' wish that they could have that... even I wished that I'd had a normal life like them when I was young. Never knew my mother... or even really ever foun' out too much about her."

"Was she nice?" Teddy asked.

"Couldn'ta foun' a nicer soul than yer dear mum, Teddy... an' funny t'boot. Yer dad was a bit more th' serious type, but his face always beamed with pride when he talked about yeh." Teddy's face lit up at this, his hair turning a delicate shade of turquoise as his spirits lifted. "In fact... the Weasleys were tellin' me that a few hours before... yeh know... just before the battle," Hagrid studdered a bit as he carried on, "he was showin' off pictures of yeh. He'd told yer mum to stay behind with yeh, but she loved him too much t'let him go."

"Why did they leave me alone, Hagrid? I mean, my grandmum is nice and all, but I wish I'd been raised by them, as wonderful as they sound," Teddy's eyes were filling with tears now, his lower lip firmly tucked between his teeth.

"They left yeh t'fight for the future for yeh... they knew that yeh'd hafta grow up in a horrid, horrid world if they'd not stood an' fought. So yeh see... the sacrifice they made was fer yeh, fer all yer classmates. Hogwarts wouldn' be anythin' like it is now without people who gave their lives like them," Hagrid was near bawling now as he spoke, he gave Teddy a bone-crushing hug and patted the youngster on the back, "they came t'fight... and gave their lives so yeh could live happily."

Teddy, tears streaming down his cheeks, turned back to look once again at the plaque, and saw his mother and father looking down at him again with pride. He heard Hagrid whimpering mightily behind him as he reached up once more and murmured softly, "Thank you..." before turning to continue down the hall with Hagrid, to live his life, just as his mother and father would have wished.

---FIN---


End file.
